


The Adventure of the Engineer's Fist

by magicgenetek



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Family Secrets, First Crush, Gen, Growing Up, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Secret Identity, Secrets, Sparring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-18
Updated: 2012-06-18
Packaged: 2017-11-08 01:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/437476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicgenetek/pseuds/magicgenetek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami grows up. So do the Equalists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Age 8

The first time Asami met Amon and his lieutenant, she was almost nine. Her mother had been dead for nine months, Daddy had fired most of the servants, and the house was altogether too large with just the two of them in it. She’d walk into a room and it’d smell like Mommy, or one of her books would be sitting overturned on a chair and Asami would take the book and hug it, or she’d wake up from a nightmare and run to her parents’ room only to find it empty. 

She missed Mommy. Daddy missed Mommy even more; he had been really scary for a while, after Mommy died, alternating between screaming at the walls and sobbing. Asami could feed herself and she had the best tutors in town, but Daddy switched between distant and affectionate at the drop of a hat. Asami loved Daddy. She loved him a lot. But even though he was mostly back to normal, sometimes he’d look really weird when they went out to dinner, like he was mad at the city. They never went to Mom’s favorite Earth Kingdom place anymore.

The house was too quiet.

At least, it was. Daddy had been gone for a day and a night and Asami was almost through attempting to decipher Daddy’s notes on combustion in the new kinds of engines when she heard the door squeak open and laughter. Daddy laughing, and a couple other people laughing. Asami quickly slammed Daddy’s notebook shut and shuffled out of his study and to the staircase.

And there was Daddy, looking happier than he had in months. There was a tall, thin man who looked like a dragon, from the beady eyes and long whiskers to his lizardlike litheness, who was the one making Daddy laugh. And there was a man dressed all in black like a ninja in one of Mommy’s paintings of a ninja, complete with the hood that hid everything but his eyes; Asami had read that ninjas looked like they were always moving, even when they were standing still, but this man was different. He looked still even when he was moving.

She liked them already. 

Asami hopped the railing on the stairs and slid down it. Ninja was first to notice and waved to her, which Dragon noticed, then he nudged Daddy and pointed, and Daddy saw her sliding down and all the color went out of his face. “Asami, I told you not to-!”

At which point Asami flew off the stairs and landed on her hands and knees, relishing a perfect landing before springing to her feet and hugging Daddy. “Welcome home!”

“Asami-“

“Who is everyone? I haven’t met you yet, honorable guests,” Asami said, putting on as innocent a face as she could manage.

The dragon-man looked confused. The ninja bowed back to her, then said, “Listen to your father.”

Asami smiled insincerely as the dragon elbowed the ninja in the ribs. The ninja just shrugged. “I’m Mr. Fox.”

The dragon raised his hand. “Liu.”

“These are some business associates of mine, Asami,” Daddy said, gesturing at the two of them. “We’ve been discussing me helping their, ah, business grow.”

(Meanwhile, while Asami was distracted: “Mr. Fox? Really?”

“What, should I have used my real – “

“At least use a name that’s not so obviously fake.”

“I’m drunk, not five, and she’s eight. Stop worrying. We’ll just continue the part where you talk to him about your robots now, and then we talk more on the organization in the morning when my head is not stuffed with cotton.”)

“Are they staying here for the night?”

“We may as well be,” said the dragon Liu, giving the ninja a meaningful look. “Mr. Fox here seems to have had a little too much champagne while we were celebrating the merger, and I think we need to get him something to eat.”

“Would you prefer I told her that my first name was Aboat?” muttered Mr. Fox, and Liu rolled his eyes. Asami got the impression that, like a lot of Daddy’s other business friends, there was more going on between them than she could catch. Mr. Fox added, louder: “Besides, my real name is too boring for anyone to anyone to remember, and Mr. Fox sounds more interesting.”

“What’s your real name?” said Asami, playing along like a good guest.

“Chayuetai Huli.”

That satisfied Asami. “You go talk. I’ll go to bed.”

Her father smiled. “Sleep well, Asami.” And Asami ran up the stairs and went to bed.

She never said she’d sleep. After an hour, she crept to Papa’s study and cracked the door to check on him, just in case (of robbers, of a fight, of anything) and she saw:

Mr. Fox, or Mr. Huli, or the ninja asleep on a couch, his arms tucked around his face. Her father talking excitedly, and Liu with a drawing board on his lap and his hand darting over it. Asami nodded in satisfaction that everything was well and, finally, went back to bed to sleep.


	2. Age 10

Asami was ten and the house was filling back up with servants, nannies, and all manner of people. Her father had grown back into the thick grooves of business, and Satomobiles were selling better than before. But – that always available but – there was a problem.

Asami was bored.

It wasn’t her father’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was nice, meeting the children of other executives and doing tea ceremonies with their daughters. Her tutors were good people. Her self-defense teachers were patient. But the door to her father’s study was suddenly locked, and she hadn’t been able to get her hands on any interesting blueprints in weeks. Even taking apart and putting back together the clock in her room, an activity that amused her endlessly when she was younger, didn’t hold appeal. She was bored, bored, bored, and she was not going to bother her father when he was busy rearranging the factory, so it was up to her to entertain herself until he got back.

Fortunately, the house was full of possibilities. 

The current possibilities were Mr. Liu, age unknown, attempting to figure out where her father was, and Mr. Fox or Mr. Huli, age even younger than Liu, watching everything from the couch with his eyes creased in amusement. Daddy had told the staff to keep his location secret for now, but that apparently hadn’t gone out to their company; Mr. Fox was maybe drunk again, because he wasn’t doing anything to help Liu with the butler stonewalling him. In fact, the butler being interviewed was looking increasingly distressed, perhaps from Liu’s annoyance or perhaps from the hungry look Mr. Fox was giving him.

“I can help,” said Asami; Liu and Mr. Fox turned to face her while the butler ran for cover. She was in one of her better dresses, a burgundy hanfu with green lining, and her oil-stained gloves were stuffed in the pocket of her small pink purse. “You want to find Daddy, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Liu said. He stood awkwardly – it was like he had twice as many elbows and knees than he actually needed. Asami smiled regally and slid down the staircase, landing on her feet daintily. “You’re saying you know where he is?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t make an offer I can’t back up,” Asami said. “But it’s not for free. This is business, after all.”

Liu groaned and opened his mouth to say something, but Mr. Fox interrupted him. “Why don’t you go with her? I can talk to people here.”

Liu spun to glare at Mr. Fox, and there was a moment of unspoken communication between the two. Whatever it was, Mr. Fox won. Liu’s shoulders sagged, and he trundled to the stairs, scuffing one leather boot against the foot of the stairs. “What’s the price?”

The price was outside. Mr. Fox waved them out, and then Asami dragged Liu around the pavement outside until he indicated that yes, this car was the car he and Mr. Fox had arrived in.

Asami fished a wrench from her purse and levered open the front in one smooth move, exposing the engine. She hopped up onto the front and ran her hands over it all: the engine, still barely warm to the touch, and there was the place where the coolants were kept and there was Liu’s hand as he attempted to get her wrench away from the good parts.

“I’m not going to break your Satomobile; I’m going to fix it,” Asami said before Liu could say anything that wasn’t the sound of a moped in desperate need of a muffler. “Don’t worry so much.”

“It’s already fixed!” 

There was a quick tug of war with Liu won, and Asami scowled at him as he held the wrench well above where she could reach. Grownups weren’t supposed to talk back! “It doesn’t need any more fixing than it already has.”

“Maybe if you let me look at it, I could see that for myself!”

“No.”

“Come on!”

“No.”

“Give me my wrench back!”

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re a terrible person and you shouldn’t bully ten year olds.”

“You shouldn’t be using your father’s status to get your hands on my car and wreck it.”

“Mr. Fox said you should go along with me!”

“Mr. Fox,” and here Liu barely suppressed a snort, “trusts me to handle the deal-making while he’s in the house.”

They glared at each other for a long moment. Liu had a good poker face; it was like trying to stare down one of the stone dragons outside of the ore refinery. But Asami was better, and she was going to win this. 

Then Liu glanced away, at her house; Asami followed his gaze and saw Mr. Fox closing the shades of a window. “What’s he doing on the second floor?”

“Getting into trouble,” Liu said. “Much like you.”

Asami made the reasonable argument of kicking him in the shin, or at least tried to. He moved out of her way like a snake that sighted prey, ending up at her side. Asami growled and tried again, and he was behind her. She spun around to face him once more. “What’s it take to let me get into your engine like you promised me?!”

Liu glanced at the window again, then at her; he sighed in something like defeat. “I’ll let you touch it,” he said, running a hand through his messy bangs, “if you can find the modifications I’ve already made.”

“Deal!”

She grabbed her wrench back from him and ran to the exposed engine. She ran her fingers over it, looking for – for – for what? 

Light caught her eye. She followed the reflection on the engine through a spiderweb of wires to the source: a dimly glowing cube, a bit larger than her fist, and warm to the touch. If the wires were a spiderweb, then this was the spider sitting on it.

“Good.” 

Asami looked up at Liu. “What is it?”

His mouth quirked. “It’s an emergency power source. If we ever have to drive without gas, or if we need some extra speed, we can use it.”

“What’s the power source?”

“Generated by the Satomobile moving.”

“Is that why it’s so dim now? But it needs something to store it in.”

“I have another one.” Liu rolled up his sleeve to reveal a small blue half-orb strapped to his wrist. “This one’s a prototype.”

Asami ooohed and tugged his hand down so she could see it properly. “How’s it work?”

Liu unbuckled it from his arm; they sat together on the pavement as he pulled out a small toolset from his belt and started unscrewing the end. “Let me show you.”

Daddy and Mr. Fox found them there two hours later, as the sun was smearing pink all over the horizon. Liu’s blue orb was in pieces all over the ground. As Mr. Fox’s shadow grew over them, Liu set down his tweezers full of wire and sprang to his feet. 

“We were wondering where you’d gone,” Daddy said, clapping Liu on the back; Liu, focused on Mr. Fox, almost jumped out of his belt. “He’d said that you were out with my daughter, and we were wondering if you’d come back in yet!”

“We were engrossed with our project,” said Liu.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Asami added, starting to put the pieces back in. “A personal generator that doesn’t use bending as an added source is pretty amazing. Although it could if we tweaked the materials, I think, but I don’t know any metals that would conduct right. When are you coming back?”

“In two weeks time,” Mr. Fox said. “From what I understand, we’re finally into the first prototypes for our project?”

“Right,” said Liu.

“So we’ll be back to check on our progress.”

“Good,” said Asami. “I want to see more. And I want to learn how he did that thing!”

“What thing?” asked Daddy.

Asami tried to kick Liu, who sidestepped her again. Daddy puffed up, and it looked like he didn't know to be mad or confused. “A-Asami, don’t just kick people!”

“I’m sure,” said Mr. Fox, putting a calming hand on Daddy’s upper arm, “she had good reason to bruise his shins.” He did an excellent job, Asami thought, of not laughing at Liu’s offended face. “Can you be our liaison here, Liu? I’m going to be busy arranging the printing presses, and it seems that you and Asami get along well enough.”

“Like a house burning down.”

“You could teach her how to dodge the resulting falling timber,” Mr. Fox said, giving her a meaningful look, “among other things. Mr. Sato? Are we agreed?” 

Daddy smiled. “It’s settled!” Asami said, shaking Mr. Fox’s hand. Mr. Fox and Daddy laughed, and Liu gave her a wounded look that had her snickering for the rest of the night.


	3. Age 11

At eleven, the self-defense classes she looked forward to the most came from twice a month. Liu was not as forgiving as her other teachers; she was always nice and bruised afterwards, and she reveled in it. This was real fighting. She was a real fighter now. Daddy didn’t get worried about it, either; he and Liu had talked about it before their first sparring session, and now he watched from the sidelines and cheered her on.

“Don’t move so wildly! Excess movements will only sap your energy,” said Liu, dodging Asami’s punches. “We went over this last time.”

“Maybe if you’d – hold still – “

“Your opponents won’t hold still in a fight!” 

“They would if I could kick them!” She attempted a leg sweep that Liu hopped over. “I wanna – do – weapons soon!”

“Learn your basics first. Learning one kick ten thousand times is more frightening than learning ten thousand kicks one. Once you can land a hit on me without using surprise, we’ll move to weapons.”

“You said that using the element of surprise is valid!”

“It is,” he said, blocking her fist with one hand, “but you can’t always surprise your opponents.” She tried to unbalance him; he flipped her over his shoulder and onto the mat instead. “You have to be skilled enough to hold up against them in a fair fight.”

Asami lay there, catching her breath. “Is a grown man against a ten year old fair?”

“No.” Liu offered his hand, helping Asami sit up. “But if you’ll be attacked, it’s likely to be by adults, so you need to be prepared. They won’t expect you to fight back, which will give you a free first blow. But what if there’s more than one there? If you take the one down, you still must fight the rest of them.”

“What’d you do, then?” Asami spread her arms and stretched her aching back. “If you were outnumbered, how’d you deal with them? Take a break from sparring and show me?” 

“Yes,” said Liu. “Get out of the way.” 

Asami did, scorpioncrab-walking over to sit next to Daddy as Liu went to his pack and pulled out two long, thin sticks. He stretched into a starting stance, his sticks held perpendicular to his body, and he just looked silly. 

Then he moved. Slowly, at first, going through what Asami figured were basic stances, blocking and dodging. Then again, faster. And again, and this he stepped out of the stances and into a dance, his sticks dancing around him in silver arcs, and Asami could not follow where his hands would be – a feint, his wrist flicking to the side, or his body twisting to dodge some unseen blow, and it was if he really were a dragon, his silver and green scales glinting.

Daddy was staring. Asami was staring, but she’d also glanced up at him. He wasn’t blinking, barely breathing, and that was weird, but. Liu fighting was beautiful, and Daddy hadn’t seen him fighting like Asami had, so it made sense that he was, um, starstruck? Yeah, starstruck. 

Liu slowed down, stopped, and sheathed his sticks on his belt. Asami clapped. After a moment, Daddy joined in. Liu flushed and wiping sweat off the bridge of his nose. “Do you see now, Asami?”

“Yes!” She hopped up, spinning around in an attempt to capture some of that dragon’s flight. Step, step, twist, and his arms had gone like _this_ \- she could see it in her mind’s eye but she wasn’t big enough for it yet. She had to get bigger. She wanted to run and run and she had a pretty good excuse to do it. “Should I go get some lychee juice while I’m up? Liu, you look tired, and Daddy looks tired too.”

Daddy coughed and wiped his forehead daintily. “That would be lovely, Asami.”

Asami ran for the kitchens, grinning. She only looked back once, to see Liu leaning in to whisper something in Daddy’s ear – something about her potential, no doubt. She was going to get so strong so fast!


	4. Age 12

Someone was ramming the knocker against the door. It was Daddy’s 44th birthday and Asami was twelve and when she opened the door, Mr. Fox and Liu staggered through and there was blood on the floor and this was not something she was prepared to deal with when she had not even started her cake.

“Daddyyy _yyy!_ ”

She’d barely reached the apex of her scream when Daddy and a few servants ran into the hall. One of Mr. Fox’s arms was hanging limply, while the other was holding Liu tightly, and that was the only thing keeping Liu upright. She could see the white of Liu’s eyes. There was blood on his shoes. Mr. Fox’s fox mask was broken, and his visible eye was swelling up, and his black face-mask glistened with some wetness.

Asami kept on screaming until Daddy had ushered Mr. Fox and Liu to the guest room, at which point she downgraded to hyperventilating as she parked herself outside their door.

Daddy knelt in front of her. “Asami, we still have the cake out. You can go back and finish it and then go to bed.”

“I can’t! Not when – when - ”

Asami stuttered on her tears and pulled Daddy into a hug, which he returned tightly. “I know. I’m worried too. You want to stay up until they’re both ok?” Asami nodded. “Ok. But you have to go straight to bed after that.” Asami nodded again. “I’ll bring our plates here and we’ll wait.”

And they did. The cake didn’t taste as good because there were tears on them and Asami couldn’t get Liu’s bloody shoes off her eyelids and every bump and hiss of the house’s hydraulics made her jump. Finally, when she had long reduced her plate to crumbs and was morosely chasing them with her fork, Mr. Fox cracked open the door. “He’s awake.”

Daddy was on his feet before Asami was, and was first inside. Asami followed, giving Mr. Fox a wary look before running to Liu.

Liu looked normal except for the bandages that peeked out of Daddy’s overlarge shirt and the paleness of his face. Really, Mr. Fox looked worse – what was visible of _his_ face was swelling and purpled, and so was the entirety of his shoulder and a good chunk of his torso. Asami wasn’t sure why his shirt was off. She wasn’t going to ask, too busy checking Liu’s temperature.

Liu batted away her hands. “I’m fine. You don’t have to check my temperature. That’s not needed!”

“I’m making sure! What if you got an infection and then you got a fever and then-”

“Asami, give him some space,” Daddy said, pulling her gently away. Asami sniffled and nodded, stepped back against the closet. “Liu…”

“I’m fine.” Liu’s fingers hovered over his side. “We had a run in with some Great Glaciers and the c – that unruly gang of metalbenders. I just got a couple icicles in the wrong area. I’m _fine._ And you - ” he turned to Mr. Fox, “Why did you bring us here? We were near-”

“You were unconscious and I wasn’t going to lead them back home. I made sure the bleeding had stopped and then drove until I lost our pursuers.”

“It wasn’t that bad and – “ Liu rubbed his temples. “This is a ten minute drive. You don’t have a license.”

“I know,” Mr. Fox said, and his voice barely quavered. “It’s raining,too.”

Liu groaned. “Go to bed. And put a shirt on! You’ll catch cold.”

“Yes, Mother,” Mr. Fox said as Liu picked up someone’s discarded shirt and tossed it into Mr. Fox’s face. “Your aim is, as always, impeccable.”

“I’m not your mother, I’m your second,” Liu said, but it wasn’t angry. At most, he sounded tired. “We need to stop doing this. If you die, who’s going to lead this?”

“You’re the one shoving people out of the way of ice spikes,” Mr. Fox said, prying his mask off and pulling the shirt on. “We can’t lose you either.”

“Go to bed. I’ll talk to the Satos. You’ve been far too busy to be awake.” Mr. Fox nodded and curled up on the bed opposite Liu; he was asleep in moments. Liu smiled and tugged some of the blankets over Mr. Fox before turning back to Asami and Daddy. “Sorry about that. We’re usually not so unprofessional…”

“It’s fine,” said Daddy. “You two have been working together longer than we have.”

“You’re not going to die, are you?”

Liu shook his head. “I’m fine. He’s patched me up before and I haven’t died yet.” He reached out; Asami took his hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll be better by the time our next lesson starts.”

“Good.” Asami rubbed her face. “Daddy, I’m going to start cleaning their stuff. You stay with him, ok?”

“Asami-“ But Liu shook his head at Daddy, and Asami grabbed their shoes and ran outside.

It didn’t take long to get some hot, soapy water and a washcloth, and she sat in front of the door and cleaned. The water soon turned pink. It was mindless work, and it took her mind off things. Off all the things. When she had walked in on Daddy and Mommy after that time, she hadn’t seen much of Mommy’s body – only her ash-covered high heels. That was why, she thought, she couldn’t get Liu’s boots out of her head. She didn’t know what Daddy had done with those heels, but these boots would be clean and Liu would wear them again.

(Behind her, Liu and her father talked.

“But what if he was lying?”

“I’d still follow him. He still has the vision that we need – we truly don’t need benders anymore. He has a politician’s gift for speech, but there’s none of that slimy manipulation. He’s like a sword, forged in fire, the impurities lost through endless hammering.”

“And swords need hilts and sheathes.”

“They do. I’ve known him since – has it been eight years already?”

“And four here. It feels like longer – it’s like I’m a different man. He saved me.”

“A lot of us feel that way. He literally saved most of us. I was the first…I had gotten ambushed on my way home and he stepped in. We won, barely, and I let him lick his wounds at my apartment and he never left.”

“…So. Are you two…?”

“…Hiroshi. Why do you think he came here, of all places, when _I_ got injured?”

“… _oh._ ”

“I’m sure he planned it from the day he let Asami rummage around our car.”

“You mean he matc-“

“Don’t sayit! Or he’ll wake up and comment on it and start planning things and he’ll be even more of a wreck tomorrow.”

“It’s like getting Asami to bed.”

“Asami didn’t decide to avenge her mother’s death by equalizing the power balance between benders and non-benders.”

“She’s only twelve. Give her time.”)


	5. Age 13

For her thirteenth birthday, Daddy had given her an old Satomobile to experiment on, and Liu had given her a toolkit. For the last month, they’d added some time tinkering in the garage to the sparring routines. Asami was busy adding some extra fuel gauges to the Satomobile while Liu was strapping a small box to his shoulder and aligning wires down his rubber-clad arm.

“So, why’re you putting one of your generators on your arm, Liu? You can’t use it to make you faster like you did with the Satomobile.”

Liu tugged a strap on his upper arm, making sure it was tight enough to hold the wires down, before replying. “It’s not for speed.”

“What’s it for, then? You haven’t said a peep about this for the past month, just telling me to be patient all the time.”

Liu frowned, finishing the straps on his wrist. A metal tab rested on the center of his palm, and he tapped it a couple times with his gloved fingers before shaking his head and taking it all off. “It’s for a client. It’s nothing that concerns you.”

“No! I like seeing what you do with your engines.” Asami walked over to his worktable and sat on it, ready to pounce on that engine and take it apart. He made a face at her and she made one back, setting her hands on the table and unstabilizing a few nuts, bolts and screws.

One almost rolled off the table. Asami caught it before it could, and made to put it back when the make of it caught her eye. It was all smooth, more a ring than – no, scratch that, it really was a ring, one made of the same metal as Liu’s kali sticks. “What’s this?”

“Nothing that concerns you.”

“Come on, Liu, live a little.” Asami tried the ring on; it was too big for any of her fingers. “Did you find someone special?”

Liu blushed and snatched the ring out of her hand. Asami giggled. “Don’t worry, I’m not jealous! You should bring her over to meet me and Daddy sometime.”

Liu made a face that Asami couldn’t place, then sighed. “When the time is right, I’ll explain. Alright?”

“Alright! I know you'll tell me eventually." She took Liu's hand and pulled him into a hug, which he returned warmly.


	6. Age 14

“Why did you run your bike into a wall?”

Asami glared up at Liu. At fourteen, she was starting to blossom as a woman – or, to put it another way, she was at the part where she was budding, covered in fuzz and being ignored by all the relevant insects. Even intense study of magazines and the precise use of make up didn’t go as far as she wanted it to, so she was making up for it on other ways.

“It was Daddy’s idea. He said to hit the person I liked with my best qualities.”

“And your best quality…is your bike.”

“I built that bike from scratch!”

“Being run over is not very attractive to either gender. Someone inevitably gets hurt, and if they find out you did it on purpose, they get upset.” Liu huffed. “And what if you broke the bike?”

“Oh,” said Asami. She hadn’t thought of that. “Is there a better way to run into someone?”

“You don’t do it from head on, you swerve so you slow down and hit them from the side. Sometimes, that’s safer than just veering off the road – and don’t change the subject!” Liu kicked the bike so it stood upright, then hefted it over his shoulder. “What if you had broken something? Your father would be furious.”

“I didn’t know what else to do.” Asami stood up, testing the bandages Liu had strapped over her skinned knee, before following him back to the house. “There’s someone I like, and I’m not sure how to approach him. He’s handsome and he’s funny and he’s really nice, but I don’t know much about him and I’m not sure he’d be impressed by me the way I am now.”

“He’s judgmental?”

“No, he’s older than me, so he’s probably harder to impress.”

“How much older?”

“I think fifteen years older.”

Liu turned around and gave her a look. Asami flushed. “Mr. Fox is really nice! And I think if-“

But Asami was interrupted by Liu making a strangled noise. If he had been drinking something, he would have spat it out; instead, he sounded like a broken Satomobile. Asami stared, aghast, as Liu dropped the bike and sputtered into laughter. 

“I’m not kidding! It’s not funny!” Liu just laughed. Asami growled and kicked him in the shins, which made him laugh even harder. “Liu, stop it!”

Asami glared until Liu calmed down to giggles. “What’s so funny about it?”

Liu shook his head, attempting to keep a straight face.”It’s. I just can’t see you and him…and…” He snickered and Asami kicked him again. This time, Liu managed to stop. “I’ve never seen him express interest in dating or romance for all the time I’ve known him. If anything, he’s married to his job. Besides,” grin, “you’re not nearly mature enough to make it work.” 

Asami tried to kick him again and Liu hopped over her kick, making a seated landing on the wall. “He’s not like one of us. Dating him would be like dating the wall.”

“You take that back!” Asami clambered onto the wall, and Liu hopped to his feet opposite her. He grinned, putting up his arms defensively.

“Make me.”

Asami lunged with a punch; Liu stepped back, then slid forward to try and slam the heel of his hand into her nose. Asami stepped back quickly. The wall was thick enough for her to plant both feet beside each other, but not much more; fighting on it would be an exercise in balance, especially with Liu’s speed. She steadied herself, then went in for his gut.

Liu wasn’t as good without his kali sticks, but he was good enough to block every move she makes as they fight on the wall. She lunged, he parried; she was forced back as he struck, his blows coming from every direction. It lasts until she missteps and unbalances, landing on her butt on the grass below.

“Good try,” Liu said, hopping after her. She took his offered hand and stood up, and they walked back to the house still holding hands.

“Have you ever beaten Mr. Fox in a fight?”

“Never.” Asami boggled. “As you are to me, I am to him.”

“He must be awfully good.”

“He is. That’s why I try and live up to him as much as I live up to your father.”

Asami considered this. Liu was dedicated to his work, but it was, as he said, second to the devotion he showed Mr. Fox and her father. “Hey, Liu?”

“Yes?”

“Can you tell me about the first time you fell in love?”

Liu’s hand covered his mouth. “Of course, though I doubt it's what you're expecting.”

"I'm hard to surprise."

His eyes dipped, and Asami held his hand tighter. "Well, I was about your age when I realized fully something I had known for some time..."


	7. Age 15

She was really too old to be woken up by nightmares, even if they involved her moped chasing her, the pro-bending arena melting, and a stack of revolving gems – which made more sense when she was asleep, definitely, but at fifteen Asami was a confident young woman and _what was that sound?_

A weird thumping sound. Not like footsteps, but like – someone hitting a wall? She groped her bedside table until she found the flashlight she and Liu had built a few years earlier, flicked it on; it glowed with sickly blue light, and with it firmly in hand, she crept into the hallway.

It was coming from her father’s room.

She quietly opened the broom closet for some help and took a nice, long broom with thinning but sharp bristles and crept over, step by step. She jiggled the handle – locked, but a smack from the right direction fixed that, thank you, Liu – and walked quietly in. it was coming from behind the bed and saw-

She shrieked. So did her father. Liu had the presence of mind to stay calm, though he did facepalm.

“Asami, I can explain-“

“Dad, don’t talk to me until you put some pants on!” Asami said with all the calm she could manage, then focused pointedly at the intersection of wall and ceiling until Liu tapped her on the shoulder.

She had heard from classmates about walking in on parents – it happened, even with houses like counties. She had one classmate who had been the victim of it enough that she rather suspected his parents found it part of the fun. And it had been long enough since her mother’s death that her father could be moving on, yes, and Liu had practically been part of the family for years. But, one question remained on her mind-

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Liu looked away, a misshapen lollipop in her father’s night shirt.

Her father, puffy in his nightgown, gestured to her. “Given how people react when two men-“

“Daddy, I don’t care if you’re sleeping with a guy. You could not have found someone I have less objections to you hooking up if you had were having an orgy with the Wolfbats.” Her father made a face, and Liu tactfully muffled a laugh. “Aoi and Yuri from school have been dating for years! It’s not a big deal. The big deal is that you’ve been keeping it secret from me.” She pointed at him. “Why?”

Daddy sighed, entwining his fingers. “Asami, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you were ready for this.”

“I’m fifteen, Daddy! I can handle if you’re ready to start dating again. I’d just prefer not to do it in quite this way next time.” She felt her face turning hot and covered it. “I don’t want to discover that ever again. Why were you two even – it’s three in the morning! It’s either too early or too late for that. It’s both too early and too late for this. I’m going back to bed.”

Asami started to march out, then turned back. “And another thing! How long have you two been dating?”

“Nearly three years,” said Liu, who ignored the dirty look Hiroshi gave him.

“Daddy! Don’t wait so long to tell me next time!” Asami said, and turned on her heel and went out the door. “And don’t wake me up because you two fall off the bed again!”

 

~*~*~

 

The next morning, she woke up to breakfast in bed and a note. She recognized Liu’s tiny calligraphy, and ripped the note open.

> _Asami,_
> 
> _I’m sorry about last night. Your father swore me to secrecy about this, and I did not wish to break his trust. However, now that it’s out – I believe that it would be appropriate for me to answer any questions you had for me about our relationship. It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission, as you say when quoting your mother._
> 
> _Your father and I, like all people, have secrets. There are some that I don’t feel are appropriate for you to know now, but I feel like you should know they exist. When the time is right, I have prepared a safety deposit box with notes on it. I trust you will know when that is._
> 
> _Liu Sato_

Asami read it three times, then folded it back and put it in her bedside drawer. Should she-? No. Daddy was a private man, and Liu trusted she’d know when to look. So she’d wait; if Liu said she’d know, she would know. She would wait until then.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the Legend of Korra kink meme.
> 
> Title is pulled from the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb." It's the story in which the bad guys win and the engineer in question loses his thumb. And since this is a story that ends with an engineer losing his fist - or, more accurately, a glove...
> 
> Written before the finale.


End file.
